United States:  Bush Promises Cleanup in Panama

The United States has promised to clean up abandoned World War II chemical weapons left behind on an island near the coast of Panama, Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso said yesterday (see GSN, March 1).

Moscoso said U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to clean up the U.S. weapons on San Jose Island in a meeting during a summit of Central American leaders in El Salvador on Sunday.  Bush also said the United States will train Panamanians to carry out the decontamination effort, she said (Xinhuanet.com, March 25).

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CWC:  U.S. to Seek Special Conference if Bustani Stays

Tensions within the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are likely to continue as the United States has vowed to continue its efforts to remove the organization’s director general, Jose Mauricio Bustani, O Globo reported today (see GSN, March 22).

A U.S. motion calling for Bustani’s resignation failed Friday, as did a Brazilian motion to resolve the U.S.-Bustani dispute through negotiation and an outside audit of the OPCW.

At an OPCW Executive Council meeting Friday in The Hague, 17 countries — including Japan, Poland, Cameroon, Nigeria, Canada, Slovenia, South Korea and most of the European Union — voted in favor of the U.S. no-confidence motion, leaving it 10 votes shy of a two-thirds majority.

Brazil, Cuba, China, Iran and Russia voted against the proposal, and 18 countries — including India, Pakistan, Mexico, South Africa, Sudan and France — abstained, ensuring neither side could claim victory (Bernlick/Oliveira, O Globo Online, March 25, Global Security Newswire translation).

Brazil’s motion for an outside audit might have given Bustani, himself a Brazilian, an opportunity to defend himself against U.S. accusations of mismanagement, according to Folha de Sao Paulo.  The motion was voted down 17-14 with 8 abstentions (Renata Giraldi, Folha de Sao Paulo, March 22, Global Security Newswire translation).

“This vote demonstrates clearly that Mr. Bustani can no longer lead the OPCW and should clearly resign,” U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said Friday of the outcome of the U.S. motion.

“The large majority of countries demonstrated that they had no confidence in him by supporting our request for his resignation or abstaining,” he said.  “It sent a powerful signal that the loss of confidence in him is widespread. ... We hope the director general will understand and accept this clear signal and act on it.”

If Bustani does not resign, Reeker said, the United States will seek a special conference of the 145 signatories to the Chemical Weapons Convention in an attempt to oust the OPCW chief.  According to OPCW rules, such a conference may be called within 30 days if 49 of the signatories agree (Agence France-Presse, March 22).  A two-thirds majority of the parties would then be needed to force Bustani out.

Bustani said he will fight to retain his position and accused the United States of undermining the independence of international organizations.  The OPCW head is concerned about the “precedent” that the U.S. no-confidence motion “could create in other international organizations,” OPCW spokesman Gordon Vachon said (Berlinck/Oliveira, O Globo Online).

“Only one country, the United States, is criticizing my management,” Bustani told Jornal do Brasil.  “The others are afraid that the United States will withdraw from the organization should I continue.”

“There is no pressure that can make me resign,” he said, vowing to fight to “the end” (Rodrigo Rosa, Jornal do Brasil, March 25, Global Security Newswire translation).

“I cannot resign simply because one country does not like my style,” Bustani said.  “I was elected by 145 countries.  When these countries decide that I should go, I will” (Monica Tavares, O Globo Online, March 25, Global Security Newswire translation).

The director general said his resignation would plunge the OPCW into crisis.  He added that member states would look on OPCW Vice Director General John Gee, a potential replacement as director general, as a tool of Washington; that nonpayment of dues by the United States and other countries is behind the organization’s financial problems and that U.S. opposition arose with the “unilateralist” administration of President George W. Bush (Rosa, Jornal do Brasil).

Jornal do Brasil reported this weekend that Washington’s stances toward Iraq and several other countries could be behind tension with Bustani (see GSN, March 19).

“I would say that Iran is more a central issue” than Iraq, one expert in Washington said, recalling U.S. Undersecretary for State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton’s January identification of Iran as a principal chemical weapons producer.

A former State Department official said U.S. officials “do not like one bit what they see as Bustani’s proselytizing in relation to the Russians.”

“Besides that, after Sept. 11, Bustani began to want to augment his role in the war against terror,” the State Department official said.  “The United States saw this as opportunism on behalf of a person that could not even keep the accounts straight. ... In any case, this type of action is very atypical. ... Now the thing is public.  It has become a political dispute, which was not really the case before, and that makes it more difficult” (Douglas McMillan, Jornal do Brasil, March 23, Global Security Newswire translation).

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United States I:  Pentagon Still Deciding How to Destroy Stockpile

Debates over incineration and neutralization are continuing as destruction activities progress at U.S. chemical weapons sites in Colorado, Alabama and Oregon, the Associated Press reported this weekend.

The Defense Department has delayed a decision on the best way to destroy chemical weapons stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado, the AP reported Saturday (see GSN, March 15).

A decision had been expected by March 22, but the Defense Acquisition Board had not gathered enough data to recommend how to destroy the 2,600 tons of mustard gas at the depot, said Pentagon spokesman Maj. Jay Steuk.  A recommendation is now expected within the next few weeks, and Defense Undersecretary Pete Aldridge is to make the final decision, Steuk said (Associated Press, March 23).

Mystery Vials

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army has moved 10 vials from the former U.S. Air Force Lowry bombing range in Colorado to the Pueblo depot while investigators determine what substances are inside, according to the AP.  U.S. Army chemical specialists examined the containers Friday but could not identify their contents, said Marion Galant, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Public Health.

Colorado public health officials believe the vials might contain lewisite, which is similar to mustard gas, the AP reported.  Two of the containers are labeled as mustard agent, three others contain crystals and the other five are empty, Galant said (Associated Press, March 23).

Anniston Completes Test Run

At the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, officials completed a test run of an incinerator Saturday, Alabama officials said (see GSN, March 18).  The test, a preparation for using the incinerator to destroy chemical weapons, ran for eight days.

“You want to prove the equipment is capable of doing what it’s supposed to do before you put the hazardous material in there,” said Ron Gore, head of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s air division.

The tests used dummy rockets, said Anniston spokesman Mike Abrams.  Crews measured three test chemicals suctioned from the rockets and chopped metal shells into pieces before destroying them.

The results of the tests will not be known for several more weeks when the emissions are tested in a laboratory, Gore said.  In order for the incinerator to be a success, 99.9999 percent of the chemicals must be destroyed.

The U.S. Army plans to start destroying M55 rockets armed with sarin nerve agent at the Anniston incinerator in September, the AP reported.  Administrators plan to destroy the rockets first because they regularly leak sarin during storage, officials said (Associated Press, March 23).

Umatilla Considers Neutralization

At the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon, the Army wants to re-examine plans to incinerate mustard gas, according to the Associated Press.

Assistant Army Secretary Mario Flori is expected to meet with Oregon state officials, including Governor John Kitzhaber, this week to discuss destroying the mustard gas through neutralization rather than incineration.

“Given the new situation after Sept. 11, we’re willing to talk about anything that will speed up the (chemical destruction) process,” said Chris Dearth, environmental project director for the Oregon Natural Resources Office.

Neutralization is a faster and less expensive method to destroy the more than 3,700 tons of mustard gas agent stored at the Umatilla depot, according to the Army.  Kitzhaber and Oregon environmental officials, however, are wary of last-minute changes to the disposal plans, Dearth said.

“We’re a little worried because we’re so close to the start-up of incineration,” he said.  “We don’t want to do anything to delay that.”

Oregon officials are also concerned about water resources needed for the neutralization method, Dearth said.

“We’re concerned about the amount of water it takes,” he said.  “And our other concern is what happens to the secondary waste.  There’s no place in Oregon to deal with that” (Associated Press, March 23).

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United States II:  VX Toxicity Rating Does Not Change Evacuation Plans

Officials for Tooele County, Utah, said newly revised VX nerve agent toxicity ratings will not lead to a change in evacuation plans for residents around the U.S. Army Tooele Chemical Depot, the Deseret News reported Saturday (see GSN, March 22).

Current emergency response plans, based on the event of a grave disaster, are designed to evacuate residents as quickly as possible, said Tooele County Emergency Management Director Kari Sagers.

“Our objective is never to allow the public to be anywhere near where they could get contaminated,” Sagers said.  “Less of (VX) will kill you faster I suppose, but such a small amount will kill you anyway.”

Most Tooele residents know the dangers of VX and have not responded to the new toxicity ratings, which indicate that the nerve agent is 10 times stronger than previously believed, said Tooele Mayor Charlie Roberts.  The 1,000 households near the depot have radios ready to receive emergency information and to transmit evacuation orders once public sirens go off, Sagers said.

The new ratings reinforce the need to destroy the VX at the Tooele depot as quickly as possible, said State Senator Ron Allen.

“The basic opinion is we’re glad we’re getting rid of it,” Allen said (Catherine Blake, Deseret News, March 23).

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United Kingdom:  Former Scientists May Be Charged for 1950s Testing

Three former scientists at the Porton Down biological weapon center in England could face charges resulting from biological and chemical weapon experiments carried out on British soldiers during the 1950s and 1960s, the London Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 27).

Police investigating the tests have recommended that charges be filed against the three scientists, who are accused of testing mustard gas and sarin on British soldiers.  More than 20,000 British soldiers volunteered for the tests over 20 years, with many of them believing they were helping in research to find a cure for the cold, according to the Telegraph.  About 300 servicemen claimed that disabilities such as breathing problems and liver disease could be traced to the tests.

British Director of Public Prosecutions David Calvert Smith will make the final decision on filing charges against the three former scientists once he has reviewed the evidence, the Telegraph reported.

Former British Royal Air Force Officer Allan Phillips, who was tested with mustard gas in 1959, said senior officials involved in the test also need to be held accountable.

“I am surprised that they have only found evidence against middle-ranking officials,” Allen said.  “The people in charge must have known what was going on.  Any prosecution of lower-ranking civil servants would be a whitewash when the real culprits are free” (Rajeev Syal, London Sunday Telegraph, March 24).

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